I wanted to call this the Brokea$$ Basic B#%$ Burrito. But Basic B. will work. (Bean is it’s middle name.) I told my bf about this and was like, “I might post it, but it’s so silly-easy.” He said it’s not basic, and sounds good. And I think he knows a thing or a million, so here you go.

You see, after I had food poisoning a bit ago, all I wanted to eat was toast (with butter and peach jam) or burritos. I wanted people to be like, “Hey girl, you look great?! What’s going on?” So I could say, “On the toast and burrito cleanse, don’t worry about it.” Even tho I was on that said cleanse after not eating really anything for 3 days kinda. Had to make up for those lost calories somehow!

Just know that this is easier to fold than a fitted sheet. That it’ll make your dog jealous. That your lunch will be one you dream about as soon as you put that foil wrapped little dream in the fridge at work. It’s basic, it really is, but mostly it’s delish so whatev. Follow your heart and pack it with as many tasty things as you want. I think sweet potato, grilled corn and red pepper wouldn’t hurt anybody’s feelings.

Basic Bean Burrito (makes 1)Recipe adapted from my serious hunger

Ingredients:

1 large tortilla

3 T refried beans

2-3 T shredded cheddar or monterey jack

1 T crumbled goat cheese

1/2 an avocado, sliced

generous sprinkling of hot sauce (CHOLULA!)

Directions:

Place all the ingredients in a row in the center of the large tortilla. Wrap it up, tucking in the sides. Place on a cookie sheet in a 400F oven and bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove and eat.

P.S. There’s no PDF for this “recipe” because let’s be real… it’s kinda a thing that could be made in a microwave if I hadn’t thrown mine away because it wasn’t cute and my kitchen’s too small.

Let’s start with a side note. I loved Portland so much, that I’m going back next month and tossing bunny-topped Seattle in the mix. HELL YES + OMG + Here we go:

Blogger livin’ happy hour happened in the upstairs of a hotel with a view as cute as your face. Just kidding, nothing can beat your face.

Cindy took me to Heart Roasters where the iced coffee is a dream and you leave wanting to get it together turntable style while shopping for hang-worthy flags on Etsy.

Grassa is the kinda place where the pasta is as good as the cocktails. (I’ll get into this more in the food post, to come. Saving the best for last, obvz.)

Schoolhouse Electric is cute inside and out. I could’ve moved in there. Napped on the card catalogue booths and bought all the light fixtures for my rental. It really inspired me to toss out the through pillows I got when I first moved into my flat that Elliot’s napped on and I’ve splashed pizza on.

The outside is just as cute. The garage doors are painted Mermaid’s Treasure. That’s the technical term, duh.

Broder Nord had my heart as soon as Cindy suggested we get donut-esque appetizers. I’d like to hang near the pastries and maybe even go there alone one day to sit there zen-like and let all the thoughts I’ve been avoiding empower me or something.

Olympic Provisions is the kinda place where you want to get the huge hot dog, but you also want the meat-y sandwich with an apple slaw. Luckily, Cindy is the kinda champ who wants to try as many different things as I do and is also fun and cute like her lil bb Casper.

Love is real whether you have to find it on a run where a cat is gazing at you or whether you’re eating an ice cream cone the size of your femur and you can’t even keep yourself from shooting it against that lovely mint-y sea foam color with your lady friend.

Can you tell I love this city?! Can you tell how much I want to have home there and here and everywhere with a backyard, an oven and a dream?!

(P.S. Keep an eye out for the Portland FOOD post to come! Check out the FLOWERS, SOLO PARKING posts, tho.)

What does it mean if you want to add googly eyes to everything? What if peeps be thinking that these specific eyeballs are creepy? What if my first thought was that it was more funny than weird, but maybe I don’t know things?! Time to read some confidence-building Pinterest quotes amiright?!

Let’s cross-stitch this on a pillow and post it in in our quotes board and call it a DAY: These taste like pie, so at the end of the day they shouldn’t be ashamed of their eyes to mouth ratio.

Real talk. I made these to make up for the crumble of this same flavor combo that turned out a tragedy. Like that movie I watched last night that started with happy love and ended with lotsa death, but instead of death it was un-baked rhubarb and soup-y sadness.

P.S. And it’s #PopsicleWeek! Peruse all da pops over HERE. Billy’s new blog design THO. That confetti pic is a dream, like whoa.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble Ice Pops (makes 10)

Crumble:

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

pinch teaspoon salt

2 T butter

Strawberriez:

4 cups strawberries, quartered

1/4 (kinda heaping) cup sugar

Rhubarb:

2 cups rhubarb

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

Whipped Cream:

1/2 cup heavy cream

3 T powdered sugar

1 t vanilla

Directions:

Make a rhubarb sauce. Place the rhubarb, sugar, and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring now and then, for 20 minutes. Strain, reserving liquid for lemonade or for in cocktails. Set aside to cool to room temperature. Chill in the fridge until time to churn the ice cream.

Make crumble. Preheat oven to 375F. Line with parchment paper. Whisk together the flour, sugar and salt in a small bowl. Cut butter into flour mixture with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and bake for 30-35 minutes, tossing every 10 minutes, or until golden. Cool completely. At the same time, roast berries with sugar for 24 minutes. Puree in a food processor or blender. Whisk the rhubarb sauce into the berry puree.

Make whipped cream by beating together the cream, sugar and vanilla until thick and fluffy. Divide crumble and whipped cream between the pop molds. Pour puree over. Insert with sticks and freeze overnight.

Right now, Elliot is under the couch hiding from fireworks. So despite the pup-fear, this weekend has been really great! I grilled tofu and corn Friday night and ate this at the picnic table. The rest of the weekend was hot dogs, pizza, donuts and cheese plates. All while wearing a crop top! (Yeah summer!)

Now, this may seem like a cray amount of food for a weekend, but I mean, it was a 4-day weekend AND I had food poisoning last week. I didn’t eat for 2+ days. I’m making up for lost time. At least that’s what I’m telling myself…

SO! This sandwich is a dream tho. I opt to make it mayo-less. I’ve made it twice and will probably make a few more times before the summer’s over. You should probably come over.

Make pickles at least one day in advance. Heat the rice vinegar, water, salt and sugar over high heat. bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve salt and sugar. Remove from heat. Pour over veggies in jars. Allow to come to room temperature then pop in the fridge.

Marinate tofu! Place tofu on a towel to drain. Slice and place in a shallow dish. Whisk together the marinade ingredients. Pour over tofu. Flip to coat. Marinate for 15-60 minutes.

Heat your grill or grill pan over medium/high heat. Brush with olive oil. Place tofu on the grill for about 5-10 minutes or until browned. Flip. Meanwhile brush sliced baguette with olive oil. Place oil-side down on the grill until toasted.

Assemble sandwiches by topping bread with mashed avocado, picked veggies, cilantro and tofu. Serve with corn or other lovely produce.

Full disclosure: I was given payment in the form of fruits and veggies and tofu from Door to Door Organics in order to partner with them. While this is true, all the opinions above are my own. I love this bahn mi! So, thanks so much for supporting the sponsors that help make this blog of mine possible.

Yesterday was the 1st day of summer! I celebrated it by giving my picnic table a fresh coat of paint and making this pizza! (And staying in bed until 1 with a headache because of too many grapefruit fizz drinks and summer beers, but whatev.) So I grilled up a bunch of veggies in my fridge, while the dough rose. I ate this while watching Orange is the New Black because well, this season is actually really good. Kinda want to give myself a prison tat and shave half my head.

So open your fridge and peep the veggies you think would make a bomb pizza and do it up! Serve it up to yourself on the couch with the coldest water (or beer)! I might’ve gone for a run after eating this? It might’ve felt easy breezy based on the carbo-loading. I should be eating this for breakfast right now… because I’m eating the most boring oatmeal ever… I blame myself.

P.S. I’ve been blogging for 6 whole years now! So that’s pretty cool! I’m still making pizza, hugging Elliot and thinkin’ about baking cookies at 10pm.

Vegan Grilled Veggie Pizza (makes 1)

Ingredients:

pizza dough –

1/2 cup warm water

1 envelope yeast (rapid rise or active dry)

pinch of sugar

1 1/4 cups water at room temperature

2 T extra virgin olive oil

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups bread flour, plus more for dusting

1 1/2 t salt

toppings –

4 T olive oil, divided

2 cloves of garlic, pressed

salt + pepper

1 lemon wedge

1 corn on the cobb

1 tomato, sliced

1 red pepper, sliced

1/2 a bunch of asparagus

1/2 cup chopped, canned artichokes

1 avocado

Directions:

Make pizza dough! Proof yeast with sugar in warm water. Set aside for 5 minutes, or until bubbly. Put the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment. Begin to stir. Add the water and olive oil to the yeast water. Pour into the mixer. Turn up a little bit higher until the dough is pulling away from the side of the bowl. Add more flour if necessary. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning once to coat. Cover with a towel and set aside to rise for an hour.

Meanwhile, coat corn, tomato slices, red pepper and asparagus with olive oil, salt and pepper. Grill them all for about 10 minutes, turning until grilled and awesome. Remove from the grill.

Divide the dough in half. Freeze one half unless you’d like to make pizza again the next day. With the dough half you’re using, stretch it into a round. Brush it with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic. Place oil side down on the hot grill. Cover and cook until the bottom is cooked. Check by lifting with a spatula. Brush the top with olive oil and garlic. Top with all the grilled veggies except artichokes and avocado. Cook for 5-10 minutes or until finished.

Top with artichoke, avocado slices, salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon. Serve!

I think hibiscus tastes like crunch berries. And I recently found some hibiscus powder! I’ve been wanting to add it to everything! Hibiscuits and pancakes and scones and cookies. So there will probably more purple food coming up. That’s all.

So let’s eat magic pancakes, then go to the farmers market, and then make snow cones. SaturYAY!

Place a baking sheet in the oven, and heat the oven to 200°F. In a medium bowl, whisk all the ingredients together until smooth.

Heat skillet over medium heat until a few drops of water sizzle. Spray skillet with cooking spray as you need it.

For each pancake pour scant 1/4 cup batter onto the hot skillet and cook until bubbly on top and puffed and dry around the edges. Flip and cook until the other side is golden brown. Place the pancakes in the oven to keep warm until all done. Serve warm with berries and maple syrup.

This van makes me think of road trip vacations with a hottie and a pup where we get carry-out breakfast and eat it picnic style in our oldie van.

I saw this gold luxury vehicle right before I ate the best Thai food. Where I dropped a chicken wing on my dress and while I was slightly concerned about an oil stain, I was way more concerned about dropping the chicken wing. (I caught it in time. I ate it.)

The person with this car loves summer, cut-off tees and jorts.

I think this would be the perfect food truck sitch for me to sell veggie burgers or for my boo to store his drums on tour. Let’s have it!

(Keep an eye out for Portland FOOD and PLACES posts to come! Check out the FLOWERS post, tho.)

I went to Portland! And man-0-man, did I love it. I arrived and got a bloody mary for dinner with peach pie and chicken pie for dessert. (I realize now that that sounds totally wack, but I was so hungry from flying next to a couple that was giving each other massages and then the dude asked if his lady was ok when she sneezed… I was straight-line eyes and mouth emoji about it. She might’ve brought a baggy of things to turn an airplane chicken sandwich into a bahn mi? Still unacceptable.)

But can I just say that calling this trip magic doesn’t even do it justice?! That everywhere I walked or ran and tripped there were roses to smell?!

That there were roses taller than me, that lined yards, that encouraged the city to have a 10pm parade New Orleans style?!

I’d go for runs to see the flowers. (And because I knew I had major donut-eating plans.) I’d pause and take pictures and I just never could get over that there are people who live on these streets! That see these flowers every day! That draw sidewalk chalk brides and grooms on their garage doors. (Saw it.)

It’s like, hey, there’s a garbage tube, but it’s hanging near a balcony wearing a flower crown, so no bigs.

And I saw this purple poppy. Which is totally the unicorn of flowers, don’t you think? Like… it even had purple poppy friends. I was all, “Cindy! I saw a purple poppy. Have you ever seen one?!” She hadn’t. I texted a photo to my bff who’s daughter is named Poppy and they thought it was totes magic too.

You see, I woke up smiling every day knowing there were a million flowers prettier than you can even believe just out the front door! On the way to lunch! Near the coffee shop, on the way to our drivable jelly bean (Car2Go, sitch).

I wouldn’t put it past me to walk up to porches, near mailboxes, by windows to get photos of ombré roses. Whew. Portland’s a dream.

I made this snack cake in 2010! When I first moved into the flat I live in now. Life is completely different now (hell yes), but this cake (and Elliotto) have stayed awesome. SO! Since I made this cake before, I’ve dealt with a broken fridge, mini ant families x 3, flooding through my windows, flooding in the basement, quit one job, got another one, cut my hair, fell off my bike, broke probably like 19.5 glasses, made a bunch of ice cream, gotten more tattoos (valentine mermaid, s’mores campfire, lighting bolt, XO, arrows, popsicle & ice cream cone), started running, started therapy, figured some things out, didn’t figure some things out and here we are! With cake! Cool.

Anyhow! This time when I made this cake, I cut down on the sugar and used some graham flour. Tastes like a breakfast dream, if you ask me. I’m all “NO DESSERT ‘TIL PORTLAND!” But I’ll eat zucchini cake and call it a breakfast and not a dessert and will sample cookie dough, but not eat the cookies and I’m going to Portland tomorrow and I CAN’T WAIT!

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and lightly flour a bundt pan, set aside. In a medium bowl, beat zucchini, bananas, oil and vanilla with an electric mixer or vigorous stirring. Stir in remaining ingredients.

Pour into the prepared bundt pan and bake in the preheated oven for 45-60 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool upright for 15 minutes before inverting onto cooling rack or cake stand. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Serve with slivered almonds.

I hung up decorations in my room so my mom had a party room while I couched it. Elliot made sure it was comfy and fun in there. I gave her some Frank body scrub and we got manicures and brunch and sprinkled confetti on the sidewalk and took Photo Booth pictures and had such a nice time!

So last Friday, I picked her up from the airport and we headed straight to dinner! We split a salad, gobbled up arancini and bruschetta and even split a pizza at Ottava Via (one of Ben and my favorites).

Saturday we got coffee and a snack at Red Hook with my boo and then we popped over to Eastern Market. My mom bought me flowers to plant. (This was the first time there was ever real confidence in my plant-care. I’m kinda the worst at them.) Then we made hibiscuits for shortcakes and bourbon chocolate cake for these parfaits for a lil party I threw Monday evening.

Sunday was Mother’s Day! I made us chai at home before we headed to Gold Cash Gold for brunch. We started off with a lemon bar/cinnamon roll appetizer. My brother got a dreamy burger. My mom and I both got waffles. I opted for the chicken & waffles tho. The chicken was a crispy dream that had a pickle brine. They were all “It’s half of a chicken, so it’s a lot.” “I was all ‘WHOA’ and then I finished it because I’m a real champ.” I’ll split a large pizza with you right now for bonding.

Monday we ate macarons (cookies & cream, birthday cake and s’mores) for an appetizer and omelets and stuff for brunch at Commonwealth. My mom was pretending to drink my Americano through the window. Can you believe it?! We tried on lots of shirts and purses at Anthropologie after.